Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

Sophronia has no interest in becoming a lady—she's far too fascinated by how machinery works to worry about perfect curtsies. Being sent to finishing school seems like a prison sentence, but Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is not your typical finishing school. Weapons’ training is taught alongside dancing, and the young ladies are just as adept at poisons as they are at creating perfect place settings. Sophronia is the first cover recruit in years and she has a lot to learn: how to curtsy properly for one, and how to sneak about without getting caught by the mechanicals for another, but most importantly…why does the finishing school seem to be a target for the infamous flywaymen? It is going to be a busy year.

Gail Carriger's YA debut has all of the same energetic, quirky, and imaginative humor and action of her Parasol Protectorate series, set in another facet of her steampunk world. The finishing school setting isn’t at all what readers will expect, and Carriger pulls it off cleverly and confidently. Sophronia is a delightfully spunky, kindhearted, and unassuming protagonist, and she has little interest for what’s considered proper. She makes friends easily, and even though her curious nature often gets her into trouble, her resourcefulness and her connections get her out rather easily. Carriger slyly sneaks in a few favorite characters from her previous books into this novel, but the majority of the faces are new in this book, with their own secrets and motivations to make Sophronia’s first few months quite interesting. The action never stops between the late-night adventures, little tricks and heists, and abounding mysteries, and readers will eagerly devour book the first. New readers and long-time Carriger fans will take to Sophronia instantly.

Cover Comments: I love the deep purple and the gears in the background! Although the girl on the cover looks older than Sophronia, this is a lovely cover and a fairly accurate representation of the book!

Book purchased from independent bookstore.

Book the Second, Curtsies and Conspiracies, will be landing November 5th, 2013!